My Range

[mazo kid]

The reason I asked is that at some of our rendezvous we had a "duel" competition. Two shooters would face the swing arm target and on command would fire. There was always flattened lead under the target. Of course, they were shooting single shot pistols furnished by the person running the shoot. He had two 68 caliber Sea Service pistols. Heavy for velocity loads, so not much fragmentation. Just wondered if the rifle bullets acted the same way.

[Hawg]

I used to have !/2 inch steel plate. If it hangs straight lead splatters but if you hang it on a slant it tends to flatten and fall to the ground.

[Len]

I used to have !/2 inch steel plate. If it hangs straight lead splatters but if you hang it on a slant it tends to flatten and fall to the ground.

That's one of the ways I do, too, but with 1/4" steel slanted about 30* and with a tarpaulin underneath. After the rounds are flattened out, they've lost about 30% of their weight due to splattering. Only problem is that they tend to melt the tarpaulin and stick to it, so now I just have a layer of sand underneath. Mostly I have three layers of 3/4" planks in front of a 3" back drop, which leave some rounds ready to pick from the ground and the rest to be picked out from the backdrop. Saves both time and money for trying to get hold of new lead.

[ssb73q]

Hi, all my AR500 steel targets hang down straight where the lead splats out 360 degrees. Occasionally I find a 2" diameter lead foil at the bottom of the target from slow large pure lead projectiles. Even if I could recover the projectile parts, the lead would be dirty and require work to reuse. Also, since I shoot both hard and soft lead at the same targets, the recovered lead wouldn't be soft. Pure lead for the cost of less than $2/lb is my preferred path for casting projectiles for muzzleloaders.

The AR500 Cowboy target is mounted ready for shooting with my 1853 Enfield today. I had cast 0.575" minies, but will try using newly cast 0.578" minies. The original 1853 Enfield had a bore of 0.577" where the 0.575" minie ball is ideal. However, the Chiappa 1853 Enfield and 1861 Springfield have a bore of 0.58" where the 0.578" minie may give better accuracy.

Edit: Shot the hell out of my new AR500 steel Cowboy using the Traditions 1853 Enfield using the 0.578 minie and 40gr of Black Mz. The Cowboy isn't a virgin anymore. The rifle shoots ~8" high, but groups <1" @ 25yds.
BTW, Traditions has a great deal on a 2nd 1853 Enfield, $705:
https://www.traditionsfirearms.com/product/1853-enfield-musket-rifle-.58-caliber-rifled-special

Regards,
Richard

[Hawg]

Yeah you do lose some weight and yeah it is dirty but I figured getting some back is better than none.

[mazo kid]

If you pick up lead right after shooting, you would know if hard or soft. I smelt dirty lead in a separate heavy pot, the dirt just rises to the top of the melt and is easily skimmed off. Same process with smelting wheel weights. I have a lot of those from several years ago that is not a mix of steel, WW, or zinc. Back in the good ol' days! Still have a 60-70 pounds to smelt down.

[ssb73q]

Hi, the new 14" AR500 1/2" gong has arrived, painted white, and now ready to be shot.

BTW, the small trees behind the target are Paw Paw trees in flower.

Regards,
Richard

[mazo kid]

Again, your range is the envy of us all here!

[ShotgunDave]

Yep. What he said. /|\
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[Len]

Tuesday's shooting session finished off my old bullet backstop. Made a new one today. Nothing fancy. Three layers of 2 by 4" cross wize and one layer of  1" at the front. Easy to replace shattered ones and retrieve lead. Size is 1 square meter.
Recycling the old wood for the furnace, I got nearly 1 lb of old balls and bullets for re-casting.

[Captainkirk]

Great way to recycle your lead, Len!

[Len]

I just tried to go over some older threads (like this one) and once again found that most of your pics courtesy of PhotoBucket were not available. So, just a shy question, why give your pics away to disapear for ever? It renders many threads maimed.

[Hawg]

 Because I already had over 2000 pics on Photobucket.

[Len]

Because I already had over 2000 pics on Photobucket.

Why did you give 2000 pics to scoundrels?

[Hawg]

Because I already had over 2000 pics on Photobucket.

Why did you give 2000 pics to scoundrels?

PB was free when I started, I think in 2001. I got a lot of my pics off of it when they went to having to pay.